LORAIN — Despite two instances of inoperable fire hydrants during winter blazes in Lorain, the city’s network of fire hydrants generally is in good condition, city officials said.
Lorain has about 3,000 fire hydrants set out along the city streets. Maintaining them is a team effort of the city Fire and Utilities departments, with support from the administration, said Utilities Director William Donohue and Assistant Fire Chief Gary Burls.
“We’re really lucky in the city,” Burls said. “I don’t think there are many places where there isn’t a hydrant within 300 feet of wherever you are.”
On Nov. 30, the Lorain Fire Department noted hydrants were out of service at Republic Steel, where a blaze scorched the computer control center of the new electric arc furnace built at the steel plant.
Those hydrants at the steel mill were privately operated by Republic Steel and the city was not responsible for testing and maintaining them, the city officials said.
In January, firefighters found a city hydrant was not working as they responded to a house fire at the home of a Lorain police officer. It appeared that hydrant froze, stopping water flow, Donohue said.
In that case, firefighters connected their hoses to a hydrant down the street. The fire trucks also carry water to the scene of fires, Donohue said.
When firefighters shut down a hydrant, water drains out the bottom so the barrel of the hydrant is not filled with water, Burls said. If there is a malfunction inside the hydrant, it may not drain properly and water in the barrel could freeze in cold weather, he said.
But, the recent polar vortex weather generally has been unproblematic for the fire hydrants, Burls said.
The fire department tests hydrants every year and periodically tests the water pressure and flow rate.
If one is not working, either for testing or during a fire, the fire department notifies the water distribution division. A pipeline crew heads out as soon as possible and once a hydrant is repaired, firefighters usually head out to test it the same day, said Jim Malick, superintendent of water distribution.
“It’s considered a priority in our department and the fire department has been great to work with,” Malick said.
Firefighters and waterline workers cannot tell the flow capacity of a hydrant just by looking at it, he said.
However, firefighters have computerized, color-coded maps that display flow rates. Some hydrants flow less than 500 gallons a minute, while others can release 1,500 gallons a minute.
Fire trucks carry mobile computers to display the maps, while the water workers can use tablets that show the locations of fire hydrants and waterlines.
“It’s a good tactical tool as well as a management tool for water and sewer,” Burls said. “The fire department has been able to piggyback on that.
“When I got hired, when you wanted to find a hydrant, you got out of the vehicle, you looked to the left, you looked to the right and you hoped you could see one,” said Burls, who started with Lorain Fire Department in 1988.
Malick also recalled two-foot-by-three-foot maps blowing in the wind as workers used paper records to hunt for underground pipes and valves.
The city uses Mueller fire hydrants that cost about $2,300 each, Malick said. Lorain also is getting more of them.
In the last three years, the city has repaired or replaced 185 fire hydrants and added up to 300 because of construction of replacement waterlines around Lorain. Burls said the new waterlines have been “extraordinary” for the city.
“We’ve got a really good water supply throughout the city right now,” he said.
With regular maintenance, the new hydrants could last for years, even decades. Some of the existing hydrants date back to 1941. The city recently decommissioned a hydrant installed in 1895.